Mahmoudiyah District (also transliterated '''Al-Mahmudiyah District, Al-Mahmoudi''', or [[Mahmudiya District|Al-Mahmudiya District]], prefixed usually with '''Al-''') is a rural city south of [[Baghdad]]. Known as the “Gateway to Baghdad,” the city's proximity to Baghdad made it central to the counterinsurgency campaign.
[[Mahmudiya District|Al-Mahmudiya District]] has approximately 550350,000 inhabitants, a majorityall of whomhim are [[Shia]] [[Arabs]], over 8899.9% of [[Mahmudiya District|Al-Mahmudiya Distric]] are shia, whileWhile the surroundingcontrol of the year on all rural areas arearound entirelythe dominatedarea of Mahmudiyah, such as the villages of Latifiyah and Alosfia while the Shiites remained in the centers of those cities They were controlled by Sunni Arab tribes thatwhich included include: '''Al Tmame''', [[Dulaim]], [[Al Ubaid]], '''Qarghoul''' and [[Al Jubour]] (These are all Shia and Sunni Arab Tribes)
